This year at Aftershock we saw numerous examples of what happens when there's not enough security covering a wide range area with 160,000 people.

According to Chamie McCurry, Chief Marketing Officer of Danny Wimmer Presents, she said in a 2022 CBS interview that they hire 300 private security guards and 100 police for an estimated 150,000 people all  4 days to help keep Aftershock safe.

Unfortunately California doesn't have a law outlining how many security guards are required, but according to numerous security websites, the good rule of thumb is to have 1 security guard per 50 to 100 people. If alcohol is involved, it's usually more.

This means that with 160,000 people, that's 1 security guard for every 533  guests at Aftershock every year.

There were numerous accounts this year of women being groped on, sexually assaulted, and targeted in pits. There were also instances of people in the crowd helping in emergency situations, and not being able to get help from security in ample time. Things like this happen every year, but security doesn't seem to increase and it feels like it just gets worse.

The community at Aftershock is amazing crowd, and the security that's hired does their best, but a lot of us don't believe that it's enough. Patrons who are paying to see all 4 days of shows aren't security, and the security that's hired deserves more support.

I had an instance myself where I got groped on the 4th day and had to chase a man through a crowd while yelling for security, until we chased him to the entrance where the police were. The entire time we went from the Tremors Dive Bar line, through a crowd watching a band, and to the Jiboom entrance, we didn't come across a single security guard. I yelled at two of my friends to go get security, and by the time the cops had kicked the guy out, our friends still hadn't found one. 

Considering the heat being a problem every year, women getting assaulted every year, and guests being forced to help in situations where they need more support, WE NEED MORE SECURITY. We deserve to feel safe rocking out to bands we love, and not get into situations where we feel like we have to handle it ourselves.

We're asking Danny Wimmer and the rest of the staff at Aftershock to help hire more security to provide a safe event where we can easily access help if needed. We're signing this petition to show in solidarity that this is an important issue, and that it should be addressed before next year's Aftershock continues.

Addendum:

Danny Wimmer Presents stated that "more than 600 dedicated security personnel were deployed each day during the festival". Due to the growing number of people saying they could not find security anywhere and some security personnel confirming that security numbers dwindled as attendees left, patrons are still questioning whether or not those numbers are factual.

Numerous attendees stated that they could not find security anywhere when looking for help, and the small portion that did find security said that they were less than helpful. This also takes it to a matter of hiring adequate security that's equipped to handle sexual assault situations and on-site patrol that are trained to handle extreme weather conditions.